The Quote That Keeps Me Going

Now repeat this with me, "There is no one perfect way to be a good mother..... What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply..." (Elder M. Russell Ballard, April 2008).

When it comes to comparing, I generally want to cower in the corner and cry. Of course, it doesn't help when my kids say to me, "Kathy doesn't yell at her kids." And, Christ-like mother that I am, I reply, "Well, maybe Kathy's kids are obedient!" (By the way, I told my friend Kathy this, and she just rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, brother! Stick around awhile longer.")

I'm pretty sure I'm last in line for the mother of the year award, and tonight I dropped yet another notch. I was sitting here after the all-asleep hush fell on the house and realized, I didn't make dinner tonight. Now before you go call Child Protective Services, I have to say that we had a very late lunch after church, and when Josie woke from her nap I fed the others snacks with her: sandwiches, fruit and cheese sticks. They were all running around until nearly dark and no one said they were hungry. Still, I was startled that I hadn't actually sat them all down for a meal. I'll repent in the morning and make a great frittata.

Josie was in the middle of a bath when my timer rang to go and move the sprinkler. (I have to set a timer or I'll forget about the sprinkler and flood the basement.) So, I said to Ethan, "Come sit with Josie and make sure she doesn't drowned while I go move the sprinkler." I was gone, like, forty-five seconds, and when I come back in the house Ethan meets me at the door. "Mom! Josie pooped in the tub!" Do you think she was just waiting for me to leave the room so she could do her business? So, I pulled her out of the tub, scrubbed it with antibacterial cleaner, filled it back up and set her in so I could scrub her, too. Her toys are still sitting downstairs waiting to be sterilized. I just couldn't deal with them tonight. Her latest development is picking up food at meals, dropping it over the side of her chair and then smiling and saying, "Ah-oooo." She knows she's adorable.

Dylan nearly put a hole in the wall this afternoon. He was just being a typical boy, one hand on the back of the recliner and one hand on the table, lifting himself off the floor, when he lost his balance and rocked backward. His foot hit the wall with a loud CRACK. Across the floor flies white plastic that was an outlet cover, a mere dollar to replace, but I said, "Do you know how much trouble you'd be in if you had put a hole in the sheet rock?" (Like Mazie's head did at Esther's house-- I still can't believe she lets us visit after that one.) While Ethan and Mazie examined the broken outlet cover, I slipped downstairs where I knew we had an extra one (remodelling leftovers). I came back with it and a screwdriver, handed them both to Dylan and said, "You broke it, now fix it." Without a word of protest, and great relief that it wasn't worse, he replaced the cover.

Yesterday, my kids were so nice and cleaned out the dishwasher while I was in the shower. BUT the dishes in the dishwasher were dirty, and I was planning to start it after I got out of the shower. I couldn't remember what was in there, so I basically rewashed anything that had been used in the past three days.

I'm including these daily trials for all you moms out there. We all have them. Sometimes it helps to share. :) Most days I wonder if I can merely survive motherhood, much less do it well.